CEO Statement

Dr. Markus Rieß, CEO of ERGO Group AG

Dear Readers,

Insurance is a long-term business. We insure people and companies for the future. Looking ahead and acting sustainably is an integral part of our activities. We believe that bringing economic, environmental and social interests into harmony will create added value for our Company and for society in general.

We developed our group-wide corporate responsibility strategy further, aligning it with the so-called shared-value approach. This means that we aim, within the framework of our business activities, to interconnect economic growth and social progress in order to meet significant global challenges. In this regard, we are guided by the Sustainable Development Goals, which were adopted by all member states of the United Nations in 2015.

Climate change presents a particular challenge to our societies and for the insurance industry – the devastating impact of increasingly heavy storms, torrential rains and floodings noticeably affects our society and our business already today. Therefore, our social commitment focuses on supporting the adaptation to climate change and to mitigate its consequences. Together with Munich Re we supply people in affected regions with climate-friendly solar energy and support innovative business ideas for climate protection.

Within our Group, we have laid a solid foundation for a sustainable, successful future with the ERGO Strategy Programme. Being fit, digital and, thus, successful - that is what we have set ourselves out to do. In order to achieve these objectives, our operations must become leaner and more efficient. Furthermore, we must push ahead with digitalisation. We plan to conclude the extensive restructuring programme by 2021. This is an important prerequisite in order to meet our obligations towards our customers, our employees and society.

We integrate sustainability into our core business and stand by the voluntary commitments we entered into with our parent company Munich Re. They include the Global Compact of the United Nations, the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI) and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). Within our core business, our experts are assessing newly developed products on the basis of economic, ecological and social aspects and take these into consideration when underwriting risks.

We invest a large proportion of our assets under management on the basis of sustainability. We expect our external service providers to share our values.

Sustainable business operations and climate protection are our guiding principles within the Group. For many years, we have been conserving natural resources. In 2015, we achieved our goal of carbon-neutral business operations throughout the Company. We will continue to implement our environmental management in a consistent manner and continuously improve our ecological footprint.

On these pages, you can read more about our community involvement and how we live up to our corporate responsibility. You will find here the latest Sustainability Reporting based on the generally acknowledged criteria of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

We welcome you to take a look and look forward to your feedback, constructive criticism and ideas!